


The Fight At Castle McDuck!

by SilverFliesInBlueSugar



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Family Drama, Fix-It, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29197461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverFliesInBlueSugar/pseuds/SilverFliesInBlueSugar
Summary: An attempted rewrite of what was considered a generally dissapointing, albeit fun, episode of an otherwise fantastic show. The drama has certainly been amped up perhaps above what canon would otherwise touch on, but otherwise i try to balance a show-accurate vibe with a better story alternative to what was went with.Or.They finally confront the unspoken-of 10 years.
Relationships: Della Duck & Donald Duck, Della Duck & Donald Duck & Scrooge McDuck, Della Duck & Scrooge McDuck, Pepper (Disney: DuckTales) & Phantom Blot (Disney), Pepper (Disney: DuckTales)/Phantom Blot (Disney)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 44





	The Fight At Castle McDuck!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make me very happy, and bump up my writing inspiration! ☆
> 
> Side note, there's some swearing. Creative liberties, y'know?

Scrooge grumbled quietly under his breath as the jeep sped through the moors, dirt and grime sticking to the tires as he turned the wheel to skid into the driveway, stopping just short of the statue. He wasn't a bad driver by any means, but he was honestly so used to LaunchPad's chauffering that he had become unused to it. His hands ached from how hard he had been gripping the steering wheel, frustration mounting and then ebbing the entire drive. It hadn't helped that the twins had been bickering like the kids they still internally were the entire drive.

"D'you think the magic is just running out somehow?" Della offered as she stepped out of the back seat, sticking a tongue out at her huffing brother. "I wasn't here for the last visit, but it was only a year or so ago, right?"

"Mm, the mists shouldn't have cleared this early" Scrooge grunted, eyes narrowed as he rested on his walking stick for a movement before moving toward the front door. "It _shouldn't_ be able to run out, that's not how that sort of magic wo-" he cut himself off as the door opened, and his eyes narrowed. "Did you break it?" He couldn't help but immediately accuse.

Fergus scowled in indignation, propping his hands on his waist to meet the glare of his son in kind. "No! This 'magic castle' is on the fritz. You gave us a lemon!" 

The mild staring contest was cut off by one of Downy's near bone-breaking hugs, and, watching, Della couldn't help but be amused at the fact that, well, at least her grandparents hadn't changed. Everyone else had, so for this to be a constant? It was somewhat comforting.

It was at that moment that her grandmother's eyes met hers, and she swallowed thickly at the way Downy seemed to drop hold of her son and husband immediately, eyes shining, looking like she was struggling to believe Della was there. And then the younger duck found herself in that same familiar crushing hug, yelping as her grandmother hugged her for all she was worth, enough that she had to resist a crack about not needing to lose another limb. And then she was dropped, hands holding her by the shoulders as Downy searched her face, a mix of elation and shock, before whooping in teary-eyed joy. "Delikins!" She exclaimed, and Della went crimson. Not _that_ nickname! But the older duck bowled over her embarassed protestations. "Oh goodness me, it's been- over a decade!"

Her tongue felt heavy in her beak then, because the residual guilt she still often felt liked to flare up at times like this - when she was reminded of all the people she left behind. But there wasn't really much time to ruminate and get a little depressed, because her grandfather joined his wife, giving Della a quick (rare) hug - as Downy moved to give Donald his own suffocating embrace - before moving back and giving Scrooge a narrow frown. "Ye never told us she was back"

Scrooge sputtered then, offended and frustrated and so much more all rolled up into one, once again going into defensive mode. "The mists were shut! The last i saw ye she was still-!" He cut himself off, something like discomfort flashing in his expression. Fergus didn't seem to notice, pushing past him verbally, arms crossed. 

"You could've called!"

"She's here now!" Scrooge threw his hands up, gesturing aggressively at the twins with both. "As well as yer nephew, who you _did_ see last time!" He elbowed down Donald's confused protestations, grinning sheepishly. "Anyway, can't we focus on what ye called me here for?"

"I suppose" Fergus conceded, brow furrowed as he pushed the door open, allowing the rest to step through first (Della with visible wonderment and nostalgia; it may have only been twice the usual absence, but it had felt like it had been tenfold) before barging in himself, semi-accidentally shoulder checking his son as he did so. Scrooge glowered, but, used to this sort of abrasion and in fact used to mirroring it himself, shrugged it off and followed his family inside.

Making their way to the massive dining hall, Scrooge rounded the large table as his niece and nephew perched on the edge, watching as he poked at the small gems around the fireplace with his cane, peering inquisitively as they let off a few stray sparks. Still some - but certainly less than when the place had been built. He distinctly remembered the way the gems had almost seemed to thrum with energy; now they were strangely still and silent. "Strange" he mused "Seems like the magic has been drained somehow"

Della kicked her uneven feet as Donald shifted away from Downy's somewhat appraising expression, giving her a weird look before quacking out an awkward "What? What is it?"

"Oh!" She startled. "Nothing dear, it's just- you seem a lot less beefy than the last we saw ye!"

He couldn't keep the beffudlement from his face, even as Scrooge gave him a warning glance to clearly indicate that he needed to keep his beak shut about whatever grandma was on about. Less... beefy? Sure, the last he'd seen them he'd been hot off the heels of the navy and was probably a lot more toned than he was now, softer and more accustomed to family life than real adventure and risk, but...

Averting his eyes from his mother and niece, Scrooge gave one gem a concerned look as it fizzled. "Got to be careful when dealing with these things" he sighed. "Unpredicable, they are, as with all magic"

"Pfah, I've got it" Fergus butted in, pinning the lowermost gem with a sharp glare before kicking it harshly. It sparkled harder this time for sure, but it was well ignored by both parties as Fergus yelped in pain and grabbed at his foot, wincing as it smarted. That... had not been the most intelligent of ideas. "Now yeh've broke my castle and my foot!"

" _I_ broke-?!" Scrooge's face filled with offense, cutting himself off. There was really no point in trying to argue when someone was being so obstinately unreasonable. "If you don't like how i do things you can call one of your other kids instead!"

Fergus scoffed. "Who do ye think i called first?"

It took a moment to sink in, and in that moment Scrooge heard a greeting whoop, one he was very familiar with. Still, it had been a while. "Helloooo, brother!" Matilda beamed, hands on her hips, having just entered. Scrooge pivoted on his foot, a bright glowing smile encompassing his own face as he ran over to give her a powerful hug.

Donald jerked in surprise along with his sister at the voice of their aunt, wide eyes looking her over as she tittered and rambled with their uncle. It had been even longer than they'd last seen their grandparents - how long since they'd seen aunt Matilda last? 20 years? Less? More? He couldn't think of exacts, but... well, she looked exactly the same now as she did back then, albeit with a slight change in fashion. Some things never truly changed - thanks to magic, of course.

Just in time her own eyes met theirs, and Matilda's face went a little slack with shock before it perked up into joy. "Donny! Dellster! You're here! Ma told me Don was here before, and I'm so sad ah missed it! But here you are!"

That again. What was that all about? But he decided dryly to just ask Scrooge about why everyone seemed to think he'd been to the castle recently later, instead smiling a little back at her. She was always a little too high energy for him, and the family fights were persistently exhausting (his own 10 year silent feud with Scrooge had sort of put the cherry on _that_ shitty cake), but he liked her. She was nice enough to him, and that was honestly all he asked for these days.

Della tried her best not to droop more, attempting to focus more on the current fun than the reminders. But for a moment the dry, still, cool castle air reminded her a little of something else, and she shuddered, blinking harshly to ground herself. If this entire visit was just going to remind her of what had happened, maybe she should have stayed at home. She fingered the journal in her pocket idly - the kids had wanted her to look out some sort of mystery at the castle. She hadn't gotten around to looking at it yet.

Matilda somehow managed to get both Scrooge and Donald into a headlock and she giggled as they gibbered, but paused when Matilda let go to give her a once over, freezing when she saw her leg. "Oh g- Dell, what on blazes happened to yer leg?"

Ah.

Scrooge went still, hands turning into fists, and Donald flinched. Her face burned at the way everyone turned to face her, and the look of shock as her grandparents seemed to finally register the biggest difference about her appearance. She'd worn longer shorts than usual in an attempt to prevent how noticeable it was, but...

"That-" she didn't want to start a family fight. She knew Fergus and Downy had the basics of what had happened - that she had went missing on an unnamed 'incident' - but not the specifics. Not their sons' involvement. Not the family split. Not...

...

"Leeet's focus on the matter at hand!" Scrooge intercut, and she jolted from her anxious reverie. She could see the way he was moving his balance from foot to foot, as nervous as she was. Neither wanted the confrontation that would arise if she explained everything. He turned to his sister, grin forced. "Why don't ye re-acquaint the lad and lass with the castle? They've not been here in a while"

She gave him a suspicious look, having easily caught onto the sudden tension, but acquiesced, nodding slowly. "Alright... but you're coming with"

"Oh, uh, actually, i want to walk around by myself for a bit" Della raised her hand sheepishly, pulling out the journal to finally flick through it. "I'm on the look out for something Jet - i mean Huey - asked me to before we left, and it might be fun to find my own way around. Don, you wanna come with?" She gave her brother a slightly desperate look.

He blinked a few times before nodding, and she hurried him out of the room before flicking almost desperately through the journal's pages. He watched her silently as she found the particular one Huey had bookmarked, muttering greivances under her breath as she silently read through it and nodded. "Right. Bagpipe. Magic. Somewhere in this castle. You down? Some classic adventuring should cheer me up"

"Are you..." he hesitated. "Okay? You froze up a bit in there. Do you really not want to talk about it? Because we can lie and say you just lost it on any old adventure, if you want. I don't really want a fight to happen either."

"I don't really like lying. Besides, I'm bad at it. Real bad" she huffed, putting the book away to cross her arms and tap her metal foot. "I'd... i think I'd rather just ignore it. If they bring it up I'll just change the subject. They can make their own assumptions."

"If that's what you wanna do" Donald looked a little hesitant, but not like he objected. "You sure you just want to scour the castle for this 'magic bagpipe' or whatever, though? It really has been a while since we've seen Aunt Matilda and our grandparents, even if they're acting... weird, around me. I don't know what that's about"

She chuckled - she'd noticed the strange behaviour too, and though she was similarly bewildered, she wasn't totally at a loss for ideas on what had likely happened. No doubt Scrooge had lied himself a storm last visit, probably had some sort of actor pretend to be his nephew. Still, it was best not to voice that suspicion, Donald would probably get very mad and she was trying to _avoid _family fights.__

__Also... she wanted to see if she could find the little scavenger hunt she'd left behind for him, back when they were both younger._ _

__"I can catch up with them in a bit. I know it's been a while since they've seen me, but... since Scrooge wouldn't let J- Huey come, i do want to do this thingy for him. Or at least try"_ _

__Her brother smiled, resigned. "Alright then, let's go"_ _

__Meanwhile Scrooge found himself wandering about semi-aimlessly with Matilda, bickering lightheartedly as he frowned about the place. "I don't ken why the mists've parted early-" he balked at the sight of the demon dog prowling the halls "-the castle's still lousy with magic"_ _

__"You still hate that stuff as much as ever?" Matilda granted him a small smile as she idled by ahead of him, still somewhat put off by the earlier atmosphere but relaxed enough to let it slide... for now. She shot her brother a suspicious look, and didn't miss how he guiltily glanced away. He seemed to remember something as he replied._ _

__"Eh, nae, not all of. I've met some good and some bad" he sighed, rolling his shoulders as they waltzed to the entrance of the Statuary Hall, giving it a mild side glance. "I'm nae a fan of it, never have been, and it's more trouble than it's worth. But it's done some good."_ _

__The way he was inflecting made her think he was thinking of a particular _someone_ , though she couldn't imagine who. "Anyone in particular change your mind? Some big life-changing event i missed?"_ _

__He laughed nervously at that, pinching his collar. "Aye, a lot's happened, since my last visit. Especially since i last saw you"_ _

__...hmm._ _

__"Ever reckon we'll get a statue?" She couldn't help but ponder, easily changing topic as she took a slight detour to wander into the hall. "You've certainly built up a lot o' money, but, well. There's more to life than that." The chill of the castle's air was starting to get to her, and she rubbed her arms slightly._ _

__He gave her an irritated frown, glancing up at the massive family statues lining the wall as though he hadn't already seen them countless times before. They _were_ very impressive to look at. "Aye? And what've you done, besides selling goat yoghurt?"_ _

__"Nah, unfortunately, that business actually fell through" she shrugged, waving her hands dismissively with clear disregard. Evidently, her last venture hadn't meant all too much to her. "I've got a new plan though - she's here in the castle! Don't tell ma, she'll get proper crabbit!"_ _

__"What in blazes are ye talking about?" Scrooge put his hands on his hips, facing her. She stopped, and smirked._ _

__"Wanna see me emu?"_ _

__"Yer WHAT?"_ _

__In the depths of the shadows, hiding carefully from any of the family, stood a man entirely in black, his green eyes glowing subtly under the veil of darkness, a master of sneak, stealth, and all forms of cloak-and-dagger-_ _

__His concentration (and inner monologuing) broke as his companion egghead burst from the black beside him, giggling. He couldn't help but snap a frustrated "Would you please be quiet?!"_ _

__She burst into another peal of nervous laughter, jumping up and down on the spot. "Oh, I'm so sorry Mr Blot, this is my first mission if you can believe it! Hahaha-" her body shook with the force of her giggles. He really didn't get what was so funny. "I'm so HONOURED to be your partner, by the way! I've already learned sooo much" she threw her hands out wildly in front of herself to dramatize. "How to suck up magic mists, how to become one with the shadows - am i talking too much? Because sometimes i talk too much! Am i-"_ _

__He cut her off, groaning as he ran a metal hand down his face. "I _told_ FOWL, i work alone."_ _

__She just beamed up at him, frustratingly chipper despite his clear irritation. "Well now, this loooone wolf is in a wolf pack, pal!" Her hands rose as if to imitate a wolves' ears, upright and aware. "Director Buzzard's orders! Everyone gets a partner for Missing Mystery Missions! Ooh, that's a tongue twister!"_ _

__"The bagpipe" he leant in closer to her "Is a dangerous and magical artifact. The McDuck's CANNOT find it first. Stick to the shadows" he slid backward until once again only his eyes were visible. "Quiet as the grave."_ _

__She watched him dash ahead with a level of glee he had only seen in the children back at his village. Nowadays, those he encountered were either maliciously joyful - sadistic and megalomanic - or were too jaded to hardly even muster a smile. She was the sort of person he simply hadn't seen around, and it interested him as much as it simultaneously infuriated._ _

__"Shadow. Grave. Got it!" She made a silly imitation of his movements. "Sneaky! Silent! SpoooOoOky!"_ _

__"Stop it!"_ _

__On the other end of the castle, Donald scuffed his foot along the cold slabs of stone beneath them. "We could always ask grandma where the bagpipes are kept"_ _

__Della stopped nervously thumbing the corner of the open page and closed the book decisively, giving him a peculiar look. "You really think this mystical, powerful item would just be in some closet with all the other instruments, or something?"_ _

__He sighed. "I guess not. I'm just not as into adventures being 'perilous' and complicated as you are"_ _

__A beat of silence passed, and she rubbed the back of her neck. Normally she'd have snapped something funny back at that, but today had left her feeling off. Strangely melancholic. Somehow, the first thing that had entered her mind when he'd said that was... the Spear incident._ _

__Damn. Was today just destined to kinda suck?_ _

__"I don't like how quiet this castle is" she said instead. "It's so still. And eerie, sometimes. It feels like- it reminds me-" she swallowed roughly, sorely missing her headphones. Uncle Scrooge had bought her a pair after she admitted how badly the often-times quiet in the house bothered her, having spent so long in a similar noiseless seeming void, and she spent a lot of her time at home with them in._ _

__Donald gave her a worried look, picking at a stray loose piece of string on his shirt. "It definitely won't stay quiet if we let unca get a hand on this bagpipe. Magic or not, he'll probably blow our ears out. Mine are _still_ ringing to this day"_ _

__"Oh no" she snickered, wincing. "Don't remind me."_ _

__Donald paused behind her, and she pivoted on her heel to see him looking into what appeared to be a storage room with great amusement._ _

__"What is it?"_ _

__He snickered. "Found some bagpipes"_ _

__"Eh?" She leant into the doorway, eyebrows raising into her hairline at the fact of the sight that there was, indeed, a stack of bagpipes in the corner, among various other instruments and what looked to be a jar of fireflies. Huh. Weird. Was grandma... collecting fireflies? Well, more pressingly, she supposed she may as well check these, if for no other reason than to cross out the option for definite._ _

__Wandering in (and recoiling at the rather impressive taxidermy above the door), she sauntered over to the stack and, with a brazen little grin back at her brother, leapt onto them the same way one might leap onto a ballpit, dumping the book down in the process._ _

__The yell he made was music to her ears._ _

__At the same time, in her own room, or at least the one she had made for herself, Matilda sat at the edge of her sofa, smiling innocently at her brother as he stared in disbelief at the animal on her lap, eyes following her hand as she stroked it's fur, herself never breaking eye contact. Stunning him would always be relentlessly entertaining._ _

__Eventually, he managed a bewildered "Well, ye weren't joking. How did ye- wh- how'd ye manage that past ma?!"_ _

__She winked at him. "I have my ways"_ _

__That sure didn't answer him AT ALL, but more pressingly he was just- lost. "And WHY did i need to see this?"_ _

__Her expression dropped from her lighthearted one to something more tense, and he paused in anticipation. Her hand came to a still on the emu's back, and she exhaled flatly, meeting his eyes._ _

__"Fer one i just wanted to see yer reaction, but fer two i wanted ye alone. I want to ask, and i want ye to answer. How much did i miss?"_ _

__He balked. "What?"_ _

__"I know Della went missing somehow, somewhere, for years. Ye told ma and pa, and they told me. Ye didn't visit them two times when the mist parted after that- ten whole flamin' years! And i know something mighty terrible happened in Duckburg - it was all over the news, everywhere!" She pointed at him. "And now she's back, no explanation, no nothing, and she's got a metal leg that she clearly dosnae like talking about and yer acting suspicious as all heck! Not to mention that you've suddenly lightened yer opinion on magic and got some kinda weird tension with Donny! I wannae know what's happened!"_ _

__Crap. He'd expected her to give him at least a little bit more leeway before launching the 20 questions. Then again, Matilda had always been notoriously impatient, even if she had a good poker face as she waited._ _

__...what should he say?_ _

__He stepped back, for a moment considering just legging it. Then again - wasn't he supposed to be being more honest now?_ _

__Shit._ _


End file.
